TEKA Round 2 @ Bega


press release 13 April 2016

After the thrilling opening round of the 2016 TEKA Championship at Lithgow, the bar for intense good quality endurance racing had been set high.

Eager to do it all again the TEKA crews headed south to Bega to take on the challenging Sapphire Coast circuit. Featuring a series of tight yet flowing, undulating off camber turns the Sapphire coast track provides drivers little breathing room, making it a genuine mental and physical test.

Having held just one TEKA round here in 2013, there was little track and set up knowledge any team could draw upon, throwing it wide open for who would be on the pace.

Qualifying for Saturday's race was a tight contest to the say the least, the top three karts separated by 8/100ths of a second. The order? Pole position to the Hellrazor #13 crew followed by Alleyman #16 and Buildine #9. Benders Racing #22 bouncing back from a tough start to the season with engine drama at Lithgow to claim the top spot in Group B. Unifilter #33 and Prestons Hire #18 not far behind filling the next two spots on the grid.

A minutes silence was observed prior to race start in honour of long time Teka Member George Mulready who sadly passed away prior to the Bega round.

At the drop of the flag it was game on between Hellrazor #13 and the Allyman #16 to get into turn 1 first. It was Hellrazor that took the lead with Allyman settling into 2nd just ahead of the Buildline #9.  Buildline and Allyman duked it out early for 2nd place in a battle that was ultimately resolved in favour of the #9, who set out to chase down the race leading #13.

Meanwhile a little further back a nose to tail battle was raging for the Group B lead between the class pole sitter Benders Racing #22, and the hard charging Unifilter #33. Unifilter had clearly nailed the set up and were using their early pace to apply heavy pressure on #22, which in turn was working hard to find a way around long term good steerer Pauly Marano in Ultimate Karting #15.

It soon became a 4way dogfight (including a battle for the Group B lead), as the Preston Hire #18, which was also showing great early form, weighed into the action.

Lap after lap the battle intensified, and in a game of who would blink first it was the Preston Hire racer that unfortunately came unstuck, spinning while attempting the take the second place off Unifilter. Prestons rejoined the action but mechanical issues later in the race would spoil their day.

As the race progressed it became apparent that (as it was at Lithgow) fuel strategy was going to throw a cat amongst the pigeons and play a big roll in deciding the eventual outcome. Two teams had decided to roll the dice on an aggressive two stop fuel strategy while the pack were on a three (or in some cases 4) stop strategy. As they had at Lithgow the Shot Fox #49 crew was banking on a 2 stop strategy to pull them to the top, while in Group B the combination of great kart speed and the 2 stop strategy had the #33 Unifilter entry looking hard to beat.

Up front Hellrazor and Buildline were banking consistent low to mid 37 sec lap times to in a bid build up enough of a buffer on the 2 stopping #49. In the mix a little further back. Regardless of the battles building behind the two lead karts were not split by more than a few seconds for the remainder of the race Buildine  driving their wheels off to just control the gap and winning by 3.4 seconds over Hellrazor. Shot Fox with the leanest of fuel strategies earning a spot on the podium coming in 3rd.

In Group B the battle between Unifilter & Benders Racing for class honours raged on until the closing laps. Realising they were at a disadvantage strategy wise to the 2 stopping Unifilter #33, the Benders Racing crew pushed hard throughout the race to deliver fast consistent laps times that would ultimately reward them the victory in Group B, and a 3rd place outright (a best ever result for the team). Unifilter's smart strategy coupled with excellent driving throughout the day delivered a well earned 2nd place (and 4th outright). The RPG #90 crew backed up their excellent start to the season at Lithgow in taking out 3rd place.

The teams headed into town on Saturday night for dinner and a few well earned drinks, but it was an early night for all as Sunday's Race 2 presented yet another migraine inducing challenge to overcome. For the first time the TEKA teams would be taking on the demanding Bega circuit in reverse direction.

What this meant for set up was anyone's guess and with only an hour of practice time available on Sunday morning there was precious little time for both drivers and karts to get dialled in.

One thing became apparent - turn's one and two would be lively as many drivers explored the limits of grip. Fair to say the patch of grass on the exit of turn two won't need mowing for a while.

As the competitors rolled out for the formation lap all bets were off. The only advantage Saturday's winners could bank on was their starting position being determined by the race 1 finishing order.

At the drop of the flag Hellrazor made it 3 from 3 in 2016 by seizing the early lead yet again. The #13 looked determined to go one spot better on Sunday, but the Buildline #9 wasn't going away without a fight and promptly parked itself an inch off Hellrazors rear fender.

It became clear early on that the change of direction was jumbling the pack, with some competitors charging up the order while a few form teams from Saturday struggled to hold position. The Unifilter #33 was flying and quickly moved past their Saturday nemesis, the Benders Racing #22, to take the Group B lead and 3rd outright on track. Also impressing early, the Preston Hire Crew in #18 had clearly put Saturday's disappointment behind them and came charging through from rear of field.

In Group A the battle between the top two would again continue throughout the entire race, surely the team of two in Hellrazor would have to wear out at some point, as they push hard into 6, 7, & 8 hours of racing! Driver changes and fuel stops amongst all the leading karts were critical as it was that close, also tough to tell who was in the lead based on the different strategies.
After an early indiscretion cost them a drive through Allyman #16 were back, in with a shot before a pit stop drama with a lack of weight cost them dearly. Ultimate Karting along with Kinetic were putting on the perfect display although just needed to find a little more kart speed. Bullit #50 had lost their phenomenal turn of speed shown throughout practice in Race 1 finding some of it for Race 2 only to have mechanical dramas, worst run of luck for this favoured team.

With a few laps to go Buildline were holding off Hellrazor by a few seconds, but did not hold the lead. That would be Shot Fox, although they were being chased down by the old fellas from #9. With only a couple of laps to go unable to hold them off Shot Fox  give up first place waving Buildine by for the win. Credit to them beating home Hellrazor, 2nd and 3rd respectively.

In an unfortunate turn of events, the stella weekend for the Unifilter #33 crew was brought undone by carby issues that while in the Group B lead forced them into a lengthy pit stop. With #33 back on track but a number of laps down, the leader board in group B was jumping around constantly as on track battles raged and different strategies played out.

The #18 Preston Hire crew were pressing their case for the Sunday spoils delivering fast consistent laps on a three stop fuel strategy. Conversely, having almost been beaten by the two stopping #33 in Saturday's race, Benders Racing adopted the 2 stop fuel strategy for the #22 in a hope to overcome a setup that wasn't working as well as it had in race 1. It was this duel between outright pace and strategy that delivered a thrilling close to 4 hours and 15 minutes of endurance racing.

With 5 minutes remaining the #22 took its final compulsory pit stop to reemerge on track just metres in front of the fast finishing #18. Running on fumes and with engines coughing the #22 came under heavy attack as the #18 worked hard to find a way past in the dying laps. The intense battle went all the way to the wire, with Benders Racing able to hold onto the Group B Race 2 victory (and 5th outright), by a mere 0.2 of a second over the Preston Hire #18.

2nd place (and 6th outright), a great result for Preston Hire, who as a relatively new team has in a short space of time become a serious contender. Watch out for the #18 at Canberra!!

Once again the RPG #90 crew proved they are the quiet achievers, and the kings of consistency, in delivering another solid result to be 3rd in class (and well inside the top 10 in 7th outright).

After an epic 9 hours of racing across the weekend, a pair of race wins for the resurgent Buildline crew delivered an "off chops" round win, and the Championship lead. The Hellrazor's went toe to toe with Buildline all weekend and earned a well deserved 2nd for the round.

Closing out the A Grade podium was the environmentally conscious Shot Fox #49. With fuel economy that even Bob Brown would approve of, the Shot Fox crew have proven yet again the value of strategy and running to a game plan. Now sitting 2nd in the Championship and only 5 points behind Buildline the #49 has cruised very nicely into title contention.

Collectively the B Grade teams can hold their heads high after a great weekend of close high quality racing. Benders Racing bounced back from a shocker at Lithgow in the best way possible taking not only the round win, but a share of the B Grade Championship lead. In second for the weekend, and now holding the other half of the Championship lead, the RPG Racing crew are getting rather familiar with the podium, and we’re sure want it to stay that way.

Bad luck had denied Unifilter a potential B Grade round win, but it didn't deny them the final spot on the podium. #33's blistering speed across the weekend delivered a solid haul of points, and second place in the B Grade Championship.

With two rounds and three races of the 2016 TEKA Championship now in the books, the title fight moves to the nations capital on Saturday May 7th.

Canberra has a reputation for toppling leaders. Will the TEKA Championship leaders prove to be more resilient?

5 hours and 15 minutes of fierce endurance racing will put that to the test.

teak endurance karting at bega

 

 

 

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